A BORING DRIVE TODAY

Today was cloudy and cooler, good for travelling with a high of about 18C.

The trip was a rough one for me as it was very boring to drive. The terrain was hilly for awhile and then the scenery was just desert, flat and visually nothing special to look at. For a part of the drive there were a lot of highway signs on both sides of the road which gave me something to watch and read. We were also fighting some high winds all the way with it hitting the front or driver’s side forcing the coach to run at a higher than normal rpm due to the resistance. But we did fine.

One part was like a roller coaster ride.

Boring!

Thought we made a wrong turn, no, this is Las Vegas, New Mexico.

We crossed another time change zone when entering Texas. Have to change the clocks again. Now we are 1 hour behind Ontario.

We did see this large feeding station in Texas.

 We are at the Oasis RV Resort just west of Amarillo Texas. It is a larger park and has more units here than we have seen in the past few campgrounds. The weather for the next few days doesn’t sound that great, mainly cooler with a slight chance of rain tonight. We are booked here until Wednesday and are going to look at which direction we need to go to get out of the cooler weather or just wait it out.

This guy made a wrong turn. This unit is at the entrance of the park.

I know the cupboards are getting bare so we have to get out and do some shopping very soon.

http://goo.gl/maps/namWw

Till tomorrow...

NEW MEXICO!

The journey today was in mainly sunny weather with a high of 26C.

The area travelled continued to be desert covered with various types of hill formations along the way but still giving great views. We crossed the Continental Divide and passed through a very large Navajo Reservation. We continued climbing in elevation as well, reaching a high of 7,274 feet just before the Continental Divide.

We stopped for lunch at this fully equipped truck stop which included a dog run and a Church.

There was a large area we passed that was covered with 10 to 15 feet of lava which had to have come from the nearby mountains many years ago.

Lava

Going through the reserve you would all of a sudden come across a casino (on right) and they were busy.

The campground here in Cedar Crest is 14 miles east of Albuquerque and sitting in the hills. It is very basic, small and quiet.     

View from coach.

http://goo.gl/maps/7IktF

 Continuing the trip eastward tomorrow.

PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK

Today reached a high of 24C under a few cirrus clouds, a great day for a ride.

We headed for the Petrified Forest just 20 miles to the east of the campground.  There was some great views of the pink hills when we entered and as we ventured into the park more we started to see the remnants of trees that lived over 225 million years ago.

So you may ask “How do the trees become petrified?” Well here is the educational section of this blog.

The trees would fall into the swollen stream away back then and they would be washed into the adjacent flood plains. A mix of silt, mud, and volcanic ash buried the logs. The sediment cut off the oxygen and slowed the decay process. Silica-laden groundwater seeped through the logs and replaced the original wood tissues with silica deposits. Eventually the silica crystallized into quartz, and the logs were preserved as petrified wood.

So, can you tell which is older?

When in the Ranger Station we found out that the Park is strict about not taking any souvenirs out of the park other that from the gift store. One area that was known as the Crystal Forest had the ground area all a glitter with pieces and now there is next to none. They figure they lose one ton of petrified wood per month from the park.

One section we saw had petroglyphs. 

Cathy's pet petrified wood - I think she is going to call it Woody!

 On the move again tomorrow..      

  

ARRIVED AT HOLBROOK ARIZONA

Today’s journey was shorter than previous ones we have taken but we wanted to stop here to spend a day at the Petrified Forest National Park.

It was a nice day with no clouds and a high of about 24C. But it was cooler (teens) in the higher elevations.

Didn't see any of these guys.

We were a little closer to Humphrey's Peak today, elevation 12,636 feet.

Yesterday we thought we hit a pretty high elevation but today we climbed some good grades and beat yesterdays reading by reaching 7382 feet. We were so high there was snow on the side of the road.

When we stopped at a rest area to have lunch Cathy went off to take some pictures in the field beside the stop. When she came back I asked if she read the sign posted beside the sidewalk she veered from. (see below)

The landscape was flat again after climbing

A break from the flatness.

This campground is pretty much empty as well but the owner says they are starting to see some Snow Birds taking the trek back to the north.

Watching the Ontario news outside.

A few people came in the campground today.

I can't seem to create a full trip map short cut so I started at Las Vegas and our trip east. 

http://goo.gl/maps/lAHbT

All for now....